


But grandmother, what green eyes you have

by TimeTravelFreak



Series: One Day Is Not Enough [5]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AND SWEET, Boys Kissing, Eren is curious, I have no idea how this happened, I really don't know what happened, Jean is too close mouthed for his own good, Jean's family background is revealed, M/M, Original Character Death(s), and it surprises Eren, but they talk it out, difficult family relationship, mentions of illness, the boys fight for the first time, the ending is short, this was supposed to be fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 11:14:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1426438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeTravelFreak/pseuds/TimeTravelFreak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 5 of EreJean Week</p><p>Prompt: Jealousy</p><p>When Eren tells Jean that his parents want to throw a party for his birthday, the other boy is surprised (to say the least).</p><p>Eren doesn't really get what the problem is, until Jean explains a few things about himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But grandmother, what green eyes you have

**Author's Note:**

> This is diabolically late. Sorry?
> 
> I wanted to write a sweet little story about jealousy and overcoming it with the power of love. Then this happened. Well, at least the second half still fits? I hope?
> 
> A short omake at the end to answer the most important question asked in this story.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

“What?” The way Jean's voice rose an octave in surprise would have been hilarious if he hadn't also jumped, his arms jerking and rising, his fingers growing slack.

With eyes widening in horror, Eren watched as the carton of eggs rose above the other boy's head, drawing a beautiful arc before falling again, much quicker than most people would have been able to register.

Still, he hadn't visited martial arts classes since he was ten for nothing and with a quick lunge that almost bowled Jean over, he barely managed to get his hand between the carton, the floor and a mess.

Both boys sighed in relief while an old man nearby broke out into spontaneous applause. Jean flushed while Eren gave an embarrassed grin, both of them avoiding the accusing eyes of a nearby grocery clerk.

“It's nothing to be that surprised about,” he scolded the taller boy, carefully putting the eggs into the shopping cart.

Jean glared indignantly, though the colour in his cheeks negated the intimidating effect the look was supposed to have.

Not that Eren would have been effected anyway.

“You knew that my family is kind of gung-ho about birthday and now that you're a part of it so to speak,” Eren could feel his own face grow hot at his words and quickly continued. “Why are you so surprised that we want to throw a party for you? You know we do it for Mikasa and Armin too,” he added.

“Yeah, but that's...” Jean trailed off, unsure about how to explain to Eren that while it seemed normal for the Jeager family to throw a party for two kids they had known since they were in diapers, it was a different thing to do the same for a guy they had barely even met once.

“Our birthdays are so close together, I don't want to inconvenience them. Throwing everything together in such a short time must be tiring, right?”

Uncomfortably he averted his eyes back to the carton of eggs in their cart, unable to meet Eren's green eyes.

Eyes which narrowed slightly as they took in the taller boy's discomfort. It was painfully obvious that Jean wasn't telling him everything about what was going on and Eren felt irritated at both of them.

At Jean because the boy couldn't spit out what was going on with him, at himself because he didn't even have a hint of a clue about what it could be.

He had thought that Jean had gotten along rather well with his parents at his own birthday celebration. He had been intimidated by Carla at first, but after Grisha had called out to him, he had relaxed into interacting with them. 

Eren had heard from other people that it was supposed to be the other way around, the dad being intimidating, the mom being supportive, though he guessed the people saying that had never met Carla Jeager.

Still, after breaking the ice, they had sat together and talked for quite a while so Eren had relaxed too, thinking that that hurdle had been cleared.

The reluctance to meet Eren's parents again he saw in Jean's demeanour now suggested that he had been wrong about that.

And he couldn't figure out why.

Hence the irritation.

“I can tell mom that you'd rather not have a party,” he started hesitantly, trying to hide the disappointment he felt.

The look Jean shot him told him he failed rather miserably at it.

Both boys knew that rejecting the invitation would be rude to someone who had supported them all the way and Eren cringed at the thought of his mother's face falling in disappointment and hurt.

The only reason he even offered despite the chance of it was something Carla had told him before.

“A relationship depends on making compromises. The closer two people get to each other, the more they should be aware of each other's boundaries. 

No relationship can survive if you ignore those boundaries and make each other uncomfortable all the time. You have to carefully learn how to navigate around them and reconcile them with your own. 

If you do that, you might be able to grow beyond them together.”

He didn't like it, but if it made Jean uncomfortable he wasn't going to push. 

That was a decision he had made shortly after admitting to himself that he was in love with the other boy.

There was no feeling more terrible than the one you got when the person you loved looked at you as though the merest touch of you made their skin crawl.

And Jean had looked at him like that once.

When they had been fighting that look had been something common and Eren knew that he had worn it too – many, many times.

It had only been after he had started to make an effort to get along better that that look had become rarer until it had completely disappeared.

Back then the greatest happiness Eren had known had been that single moment when Jean had slung an arm around his shoulders for the first time, and laughed at something he had said, their bodies pressed together so closely that he had been able to feel it reverberating against his side.

It had been the reward for all of his hard work, the proof that their enmity had disappeared and been replaced by something far friendlier.

Eren would rather bathe in boiling hot water than go back to that disgusted look.

So he offered, already apprehensive of how he was going to explain it to his mother.

“..hnnng... fine.”

“Huh?”

Surprised he looked at Jean, unsure if he had heard right.

“I said it's fine,” the taller boy snapped, scowling darkly.

Eren blinked.

“But you just said-”

“I changed my mind,” Jean interrupted, his expression darkening even more.

Now it was Eren's turn to be irritated.

“You didn't want to go! If you're just forcing yourself to do it nobody will be happy!” Angrily he glared back and watched as Jean's scowl slipped and turned into an unhappy downward turn of his lips.

The taller boy lowered his eyes and stared at his own shoes, his expression upset.

“Can we talk about this at home?” Jean asked quietly after another moment had passed and with a start Eren realised that the people around them were making a deliberate effort not to look at them, though they all wore interested expressions on their faces.

“...Sure,” he finally agreed, uncomfortable at having made a spectacle out of their fight.

Before they had been together such a thing wouldn't have fazed him, wouldn't have fazed either of them and he knew that any other topic would have been alright.

But this felt too intimate to share with other people and it was in silence that they finished shopping, paid and went back to Jean's place.

* * *

“So what's going on?”

The strained silence had continued until they had finished unpacking everything Jean had needed for the weekend, the things quickly put away with Eren's help.

Now both boys were camped out on Jean's bed, leaning against the wall its side was touching, their feet dangling over the edge on the other side.

Despite the tension between them their shoulders were touching.

Jean hesitated and looked away.

“It's stupid,” he murmured and with a start Eren realised that Jean wasn't upset with him. He was upset with himself.

Slowly he could feel his anger drain away, replaced by confusion and worry.

“That's nothing new then,” he said, the gentle tone in his voice betraying the harsh words.

Jean snorted and let the back of his head collide with the wall behind them.

“I really like your parents you know,” he said softly. “Your dad can be a bit flaky now and then, but he seriously listens to everything you say. And your mom is a bit scary, but she's good at taking care of people.

So it's not like I hate them or anything,” he explained awkwardly.

Eren leaned closer, turning the soft touch of their shoulders into a steady pressure.

“I know,” he replied. “I could tell when you came to my birthday party. Half the time you completely ignored me and instead spent the time with my parents,'” he grinned a little at the memory.

Jean flushed at the words, though his expression was still hesitant and a little unhappy.

Eren hated seeing him like that.

“I... it's always just been me and my mom,” he continued suddenly, making Eren sit up a little straighter.

As long as he had known Jean, the other boy had always avoided talking about his family.

Eren had gotten the gist that he didn't particularly get along with them, but since even Marco, who had known him the longest, clammed up when asked about them, he had never found out more.

“You dad was...?”

Eren felt a little uncomfortable asking questions, but he knew that a chance to learn more about Jean didn't come every day.

For someone as brash and straightforward as the amber eyed boy beside him, he was remarkably close-mouthed about some things.

And Eren wanted to know those things more than anything.

He wanted to know more than anyone, wanted to be closer than anyone, even Marco.

“He died when I was little. He was sick. I don't remember it well because I was so young, but it was pretty terrible,” he explained shortly.

Eren stayed quiet.

When his mother had been sick he had relieved his stress by picking fights with Jean.

The other boy had never told on him to the teachers and he had never complained. And no matter how terrible and below the belt their fights and insults had been, Jean had never even once said a bad word about his mother or Eren's attachment to her.

With a hard swallow he grabbed Jean's hand and laced their fingers together, startling a brief smile out of the other boy.

“Because it's always just been me and my mom, we used to be really close. I was satisfied with that. I remembered bits and pieces of my dad and I had her, so I never felt like something was missing, or that I wanted someone else in our family.”

“Was... Did something happen?” Eren asked delicately. He knew the terror Bertolt's family had made when they had suspected him and Reiner of going out (ironically, he had had the biggest crush on Annie at the time) and he knew that not every parent took the news that their son liked another guy as well as his own had.

Jean looked at him confused, noticing that he was hinting at something but clueless about what he meant.

They clearly had to work on their married-couple telepathy.

“When you had your first boyfriend, did that make you grow apart?” He finally asked bluntly.

“Wha- No, What made you think that?” Surprised Jean straightened turned to stare at him.

Embarrassed, Eren shrugged.

“I've heard some stories...,” he explained awkwardly and trailed off.

After he had told his father that he was in love with another boy, Grisha had made it a point to explain their country's sociocultural history of homosexuality, the discrimination he might have to face in the future and the probability of Jean actually returning his feelings.

At the end of it Eren had been rather disheartened until Grisha had finished with the words: “... but someone returning your feelings is never something guaranteed, you've taken martial arts lessons since you were a child, so you can defend yourself if any idiot tries to pick a fight, and we have an excellent lawyer in case someone does try to discriminate against you, so don't worry about it too much. You're my son and I'll support you all the way.”

He had known that it wasn't quite as easy as that, but the knowledge that, despite any potential difficulties, his parents still loved him had given him a much needed boost of confidence.

Even then he had known that he was lucky.

Finally he noticed that Jean was smiling at him.

“It was nothing like that. She was surprised, but then she told me that she experimented a bit in College and that it was my business whom I fell in love with.”

“So what happened?”

Jean smiled again, though it was a lot more subdued than before.

“It was nothing dramatic,” he said. “She just fell in love and remarried.”

Eren blinked.

“And that's a bad thing why...?”

With another glance at him, Jean shook his head.

“It's not a bad thing at all,” he said firmly. “When she told me that she was in love and going to start dating again I was ecstatic. After dad died she had to work two jobs to pay off the hospital bills and take care of me too. She never complained, but I could tell that it was hard for her.

I always wished that she could take things a little easier.”

“That's why you had that job in high school,” Eren realised.

Jean nodded.

“She never let me use it to help pay for rent or anything, but she never said anything when I went grocery shopping either.

So when she said that she had found someone she loved I was happy for her. It's just...” He hesitated again.

“She was pretty young when she had me and the man she dated was even younger than she was. I should have expected it, but it was still a bit of a shock when they told me she was pregnant again.”

Eren stared. “You have a younger sibling?”

Surprised they stared at each other.

“What, you didn't know?” Puzzled Jean tilted his head to the side.

“It's a boy. His name is Oluo and he'll turn four this year,” he said, a smile playing around his lips.

Eren spluttered, too shocked to know where to begin to reply.

“You- But- How- Why- You- Why didn't you ever tell anyone?” He finally yelped.

“I didn't?” Surprised Jean turned a bit more towards him, pulling Eren closer with the movement.

“No, you didn't!”

“Oh,” he finally said. “I guess it never came up,” he continued with a slight frown.

Eren couldn't believe it. He was sure that three fourths of their friends had not idea that Jean wasn't an only child, but the other boy simply shrugged it off as though it was nothing important.

In the end he just made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, wrapped his arm around Jean's neck and pulled him into a headlock.

The taller boy protested, though his words were interspersed with bursts of laughter. Despite himself Eren smiled at the sound.

“Stop! Do you want me to finish explaining, or not?”

With those words Eren finally let go, though he kept his arm wrapped around Jean's neck.

“Sorry,” this time Jean looked honestly contrite about keeping this from Eren. He knew that family was important to the boy and while parents were one thing, siblings were something completely different.

“I'm sorry too. I was just so surprised. You never said anything even when the others complained about their siblings.”

Jean shrugged. “That's the thing. My mom if half-french and my grandma still lives in Marseilles. While mom was pregnant her health took a turn for the worse and at the same time ma step-dad was offered a post there by his company. It was a big promotion and he really wanted to take it.

So they talked and decided that they'd move there after my little brother was born.”

It was one jarring surprise after another.

“But you didn't leave,” he said softly, his heart hammering at the thought that Jean could have simply left then. If his brother was turning four this year, that would mean it would have happened just before or after he had realised his feelings.

It would have been before they had become anything resembling friends.

They wouldn't have stayed in contact, Jean seeing no reason to make an effort to see someone he considered an enemy.

“Eren?”

Jean's face was concerned and a little pained and Eren realised that the grip he still had on the taller boy's hand had turned white-knuckled, his nails digging into the other's skin.

“Sorry,” he quickly apologised and tried to let go, but Jean just snorted a little and tightened his own grip.

“I didn't leave,” the taller boy's voice was uncharacteristically gentle, having guessed the reason for Eren's distress.

“I talked it over with them and we decided it together. I can speak it passably, but my writing in French is terrible and because of the timing it would have meant repeating a year. And I would have had to leave all my friends,” he finished softly, squeezing Eren's hand to show that he had included him in that term.

Eren could only nod, his throat tight.

“So they moved away a couple of years ago. At first we called and talked regularly, but then I got busy with exams, mom was busy with Oluo and things were still awkward between me and my step-dad.

We didn't call as much and.. I guess we grew apart,” he finished, smiling, but obviously a little sad.

Eren opened his mouth to say something, but Jean cut him off before he could.

“Don't get it wrong again,” he laughed, now looking happier. “After Oluo started kindergarten and things got more relaxed on my end, we started to talk regularly again. Just this weekend we skyped for two hours to talk about how things were going.”

“That's good,” Eren said, glad to hear things were going well again.

“Yeah,” Jean agreed. “But it's been a while since then and we've both changed quite a bit since then, so it's a bit like getting to know each other again.”

“Still,” Eren told him and Jean nodded.

“But wait, what does that have to do with your birthday party?”

With all the surprises and shocks, Eren had almost forgotten why they had even started to talk about it.

Jean winced a little, a flush rising to his cheeks again before mumbling something.

“What?”

With a frown Eren leaned closer, not having understood what the other boy had said.

“I said I was jealous.” Jean finally said, scowling at his mattress as though it had offended him.

For a few seconds everything was silent.

“Jealous?”

Then Eren replied, genuinely startled. Jean shot him an exasperated look before nodding.

“Yes, jealous. You get on so well with your parents that it made me think about the last time my mom and I talked like that to each other and that was ages ago. So seeing you like that made me jealous and being jealous...” 

He sighed. 

“It's not a nice feeling and envying you for being content and at ease made me uncomfortable. I mean, what kind of asshole am I that I can't even be happy for you for being close with your parents?”

Jean shook his head, the expression on his head full of self-contempt.

“So when you told me that your mom invited me again to throw another party, I kind of panicked,” he admitted, unable to meet Eren's eyes.

What he didn't expect was for Eren to tear away his hand, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him to meet his eyes.

“I'll tell my parents to adopt you!” He blurted out. 

“My mom already loves you, she said you're really cute and she wants to feed you and go shopping with you and talk to you more! 

And dad loved your discussion about using cloned skin-tissue in skin-grafts – and I don't even want to know how that topic came up while you were eating cake – and he's been asking when you'll come over again!

So they'll be happy if you become their child too!”

“Huh?”

Jean's mouth gaped open, his eyes as round and wide as dinner-plates. Eren ignored it.

“It's fine if you're jealous! I've been jealous of other people too. It's normal! And things will get better between you and your parents! And then you won't have to be jealous anymore! And if you get along well with my parents too, you'll have two sets. They'll be your parents-in-law! And-!”

He was finally stopped, both by Jean bursting out into laughter, and a mouth brushing against his, the touch barely there and constantly interrupted by the taller boy's gasps and chuckles.

Jean's laughter tasted sweet and made his lips tingle.

It took the amber eyed boy a while to calm down again.

“Thanks,” he said, still snickering. “There are only a few problems with that.”

With a bad feeling, Eren met Jean's eyes with his own, delighted by the light in them, but worried about what he was going to say.

“What problems?” He asked suspiciously.

“Well, for one thing, if your parents adopted me, that would make us brothers,” Jean smirked.

Eren paused. That was one thing he hadn't considered.

“And?”

“And we haven't dated long enough to talk about marriage just yet,” Jean finished amused.

He thought back to what he had said before and remembered the comment about parents-in-law.

His blood rushed to his head fast enough to make him dizzy and he glowered at Jean when he snickered again.

He glowered until what the other boy had said actually registered properly.

“...yet?”

This time it was Jean's turn to flush.

“... don't get ahead of yourself, idiot.”

* * *

Omake:

“So is this an okay for the party?”

“... You're impossible, do you know that?”

“You tell me often enough.”

Sigh.

“Yes, alright. Just don't go too overboard, alright?”

“You got it!”

* * *

“Mom? He said it's fine, but I think it would be best if we cancelled the magician, the fireworks and the Chippendale dancers.”


End file.
